taint1
[teynt]
- a trace of something bad, offensive, or harmful.
- a trace of infection, contamination, or the like.
- a trace of dishonor or discredit.
- Obsolete. color; tint.
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- to modify by or as if by a trace of something offensive or deleterious.
- to infect, contaminate, corrupt, or spoil.
- to sully or tarnish (a person's name, reputation, etc.).
- Obsolete. to color or tint.
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- to become tainted; spoil.
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Origin of taint1
1325–75; conflation of Middle English taynt, aphetic variant of attaint struck, attainted, past participle of attainten to attaint; late Middle English taynt hue, tint < Anglo-French teint (< Latin tinctus, equivalent to ting(ere) to dye, tinge + -tus suffix of v. action); and teinte < Late Latin tincta inked stroke, noun use of feminine of past participle of tingere
Synonyms
See more synonyms for taint on Thesaurus.com1. defect, spot, flaw, fault. 1, 7. blemish, stain. 6. defile, pollute, poison.
taint2
or t'aint
- the area between the testicles or vulva and the anus; the perineum.
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Origin of taint2
it ain’t (the one or the other), meaning it is the area in between
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for taint
Contemporary Examples
In losing, however, he will taint his possible rivals—including Rand Paul—as pitiful members of the "surrender caucus."
Once successfully in, I can see my Hash 160 and Taint Analysis, among other things.
Random spot checks, so that getting checked carries no taint.
“Some people worry about the taint of association,” Bradley said.
Nixon carried the taint of a perpetual candidate who had lost high-profile races.
Historical Examples
This is now a tainted place, and I well know the taint of it clings to me.
Little DorritCharles Dickens
I will not hear it from your lips, and with the taint of your wickedness upon it.
Little DorritCharles Dickens
His temper was of the saturnine complexion, and without the least taint of moroseness.
Joseph Andrews Vol. 1Henry Fielding
The air did not seem lovely to him, for he was positive that he detected the taint.
Alice AdamsBooth Tarkington
No taint of vice or dissipation had ever sullied the brightness of his pleasant life.
Henry DunbarM. E. Braddon
taint
- to affect or be affected by pollution or contaminationoil has tainted the water
- to tarnish (someone's reputation, etc)
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- a defect or flawa taint on someone's reputation
- a trace of contamination or infection
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Word Origin
C14: (influenced by attaint infected, from attain) from Old French teindre to dye, from Latin tingere to dye
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for taint
v.
1570s, "to corrupt, contaminate," also "to touch, tinge, imbue slightly" (1590s), from Middle English teynten "to convict, prove guilty" (late 14c.), partly from Old French ataint, past participle of ataindre "to touch upon, seize" (see attainder). Also from Anglo-French teinter "to color, dye" (early 15c.), from Old French teint (12c.), past participle of teindre "to dye, color," from Latin tingere (see tincture). Related: Tainted; tainting.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper